A new free major update for RapidSpar was just released the other day to include the ability to read specific heads and to re-read skipped/damaged sectors with multiple pass imaging. I've been playing with it since the update has come out on an actual recovery project and am quite impressed.

1. With RapidNebula, can fix slow responding issue with WD SATA FBLite that gets stuck at BSY when trying to ID2. Tests the heads to confirm that they all read and gives an estimate of how full the drive is3. Able to directly target the file system and image the critical files first, with multiple passes (requires a little more work than DDI, but the end result is pretty much the same)4. I was even able to recover the files out into two different folders, one good and the other damaged. Takes two steps, but it is nice to provide the client with a full list of their files in a way that they know not only which files are recovered, but also the files that are not. We recovered 99.8% of their files.

The test case is a drive that a computer shop who advertises themselves as a data recovery company, told the client that it needed to be sent out and will likely cost around $2000. Yet, had they used a RapidSpar imager, they could have recovered 99% of their clients files themselves. But, instead, they lost the client who had us recover the data for them for $350 in less than 24 hours.

So, what are your thoughts about RapidSpar? Do you see it as a threat or do you welcome the idea of computer techs not completely destroying a clients data?

So, what are your thoughts about RapidSpar? Do you see it as a threat or do you welcome the idea of computer techs not completely destroying a clients data?

the problem with computer techs is:

they don't know nothing about DR and of course nothing about HDDs (or any others (SSDs, flash Etc.))they think that downloading a few DR software will solve any problem, and will get them rich in no time (2,000 bucks in your case)they don't have the sense when its time to give up, or - in more severe cases (clicking drives for example) - not to begin within their mind, hammering a drive with software will eventually get the data out (and again get rich in no time)

so...

lcoughey wrote:

Do you see it as a threat

a threat ?not to me, but to the clients pocket, in the best case scenario or in worst case scenario to the clients dataso the rapidspar (will/)put them a step closer to this distorted mind

@jeremy, in many cases, you are correct. But, in the case of a RapidSpar, techs aren't going to invest $2000+ into a professional system without the intent to be more professional at what they are doing. Although there may be exceptions, many techs who purchase a RapidSpar will not only be able to get a more accurate diagnosis of a drive early on, they are going to learn as the move forward.

Over the past 15-20 years, I've spent a lot of time trying to educate my resellers. Many refuse to listen to my advice, but the majority appreciate my input and have changed how they do things to not only increase the chances of getting their clients data recovery, but also at a much more affordable price.

We all started somewhere. Many of the data recovery pros on this forum made the mistake of starting with Salvation Data products and somehow managed to work themselves to the point where they have PC3000 systems and have likely abandoned Salvation Data. RapidSpar is a much better starter tool which is great for the shop who partners with a solid lab who is willing to work with them and, should that shop want to move further into data recovery with purchasing more fancier equipment like DeepSpar Imagers or PC3000 systems, they can do so knowing that their RapidSpar system will still be a useful tool.

Here is a neat Mini Image of the Sector Map from a single pass (skip bads) cloned drive.

2 days ago i did a remote support session to a "client" that have RapidSpar and a few "extra" firmware tools like SeDiv, WDR, etc ...

The "problematic" drive was a WD one with a "slow issue" that was taking ages to clone with RapidSpar. All the attempts to fix the "slow responding issue" with RapidSpar FAILED MISERABLY.

I was able to fix the "problem" and make the drive to clone at full speed once again by clearing the RE-LO list with WDR and patch module 02 (a single byte) and write that module by ID.

....

RapidSpar was never designed to be a "replacement" for data recovery professionals. RapidSpar was created to look like a better option / alternative to software only products like ddrescue but was never intended to be a sollution / replacement for more advanced tools and people with the knowledge to use them ...

If RapidSpar were to be a "risk" for data recovery professionals you wouldn't be advertizing it so much.

Just because it's a "little bit better" than ddrescue/hddsuperclone it doesn't mean that it will replace the knowledge and experience of people working even with "free" alternative tools like WDR, etc ... (as long of course that you have a stable system that will not crash with a damaged drive plugged to it ....)

My only fear with RapidSpar is that if enough computer shops buy them it might clear out a good percentage of the easy cases. And, let's be honest, we all depend on the flow of easier cases to cover the expense of the time we waste on R&D for the harder cases (and time wasted banging our heads against the wall on lost causes).

Will it ever "replace" pro data recovery? Not in a million years.Will it suck up easy cases and force us to raise our prices? Maybe, if enough PC techs are willing to buy it. Which I honestly doubt. Most break-fix PC repair shops are using free software because they're unwilling to shell out $79 for a decent data recovery program. $2000 might as well be asking them for a kidney.

Add locked terminals, encryption and all other random routine stuff that pops up on a daily basis.

As far as the OP's question: see it as both. Mostly it is circumstantial based on a variety of criteria. Bottom line is few want/can pay for the work and not many want to do the job right due not caring, ignorance, income, investment, etc. Terrible all around.

RapidSpar will not decrypt on the fly WD drives like PC-3000 DE does.RapidSpar will not bypass terminal locked drives so there is no way to change flags with congen or even get sys files.Add locked drives by ATA password, SED, etc ...If you have broken PCB you can't use RapidSpar to read/write ROM...And the list goes on and on ....You will get more cased done with ddrescue/hddsuperclone + some specific firmware tools like SeDiv/WDMarvel, etc then you would get with RapidSpar alone.Of course that RapidSpar is better than ddrescue/hddsuperclone to image/clone bad drives but it's very limited to the scope of imaging/cloning and for the diference of price it might not be worth ... Meaning RapidSpar will get a bunch of sectors more than the free tools and faster and will handle better the failing drives but you might get closer results with free tools and for the majority of cases that RapidSpar can handle you might get away with free tools as well (there might be some exceptions but for the price diference they might not be very relevant) ...

Do you guys think that DeepSpar out of the blue would create a product to sell to IT shops that would cause harm or loss of profit to data recovery professionals ?

People who will buy RapidSpar most likely did alredy tested/tryed out software tools like ddrescue or alternative windows based / linux based software cloning tools.

RapidSpar will do a "little better" but will never be as powerfull as other tools aimed to data recovery professionals like DDI4.

The goal would be to make some profit from sales to IT related people but without causing loss of profit to data recovery professionals that DeepSpar supported from the start when they did create DDI.

I don't think that DeepSpar would ever create "something" that would harm the main clients of their older products ...

One just have to think.

It's a market strategy. Simple as that. One would sell to the IT guys something that is better then what they already have but that will never replace data recovery professional servives or tools.

It was not by "chance" that the first edition was created without cloning/imaging by head map and without multi pass. Any experienced data recovery pro that have been using something like DE and DDI4 should know that those are crucial features of the cloning/imaging tools apart from the hardware handling of errors and the capability to copy only the space of the drive containing data based on the file alocation tables, etc ...

Just wanted to know if the RapidSpar has a USB adapter that will work with WD USB Drives?

See attached Image

No, you would need it's big brother, DeepSpar Disk Imager, with the USB add-on. Or, you could convert the drive to SATA and work with RapidSpar with different methods, depending on built-in encryption.

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